Illustration Friday: Fleeting

Peony and the Prince

11 x 14

For a fleeting moment, the frog prince wistfully thought about how much easier his life would be if he were to stay a frog forever. But alas, reality was calling and the fairy was ready to change him back.

.:.:.
Abracadabra,
Alakazam,
Turn this frog
Back into a man!
.:.:.:.

Here is my finally finished illustration, just in time for Illustration Friday's topic of Fleeting.

I love this little frog prince!

Thanks for all of your support, my lovely bloggers. I was so frustrated with this illustration yesterday and was all set to give up after ruining page after page of drawing paper. But after a nice cup of tea and the rest of those little cupcakes (which, as it turns out judging by my waistline, were not fat-free after all), I was able to sit down with a clear head and finish!

Also, I'm in an interview feature today, this time on Holly's blog over at Winklepots and Random Thoughts (one of my favorite blogs, by one of my favorite peeps), so go on by and check it out here: http://winklepots.blogspot.com

Happy Friday!
xoxo,

Rest In Pieces

Things have been looking pretty grim in the Hopkins household lately... well, for my new illustrations at least, which have all been buried at the bottom of the garbage can after being ripped to shreds and crumpled.

I've been having an off week. Everything, EVERYTHING I try to illustrate just doesn't go the way it should and I have been tearing my hair out.

What started out as an innocent enough sketch, has now turned into The Picture Which Shall Not Be Illustrated, and has met the Wrath of Marisa numerous times. I'm not sure who's the victor here... I'm not thinking it is me... and it certainly isn't the many pages of paper at the bottom of the bin.

But I'm extraordinarily stubborn and I wont let that stinking illustration defeat me. So, one day I'll be able to show you The Picture Which Shall Not Be Illustrated. And hopefully by then, it will actually be illustrated, and not just a series of sketches and crumpled bits of garbage.

*sigh* In the meantime, I'll just be tearing my hair out and stomping my feet in frustration.

I hope you are all having a more productive time than me!

xoxo,

Itsy Bitsy Easter Cupcakes

I usually forget to celebrate a holiday with the girls until about a month or so after the fact. I know. I'm terrible. Last years Easter Egg dyeing took place 2 weeks after Easter, our Halloween cookies weren't baked until November, and I skipped decorations for Thanksgiving and Christmas altogether.

In fact, we had spaghetti for Thanksgiving dinner, and we never even bought a Christmas tree. Oops.

I look forward to the day when the girls start school, so that they can do all of the holiday arts and crafts there, and not have to worry about missing everything just because their mom forgot to buy a calendar again.

Now, yesterday, however.... I REMEMBERED TO MAKE EASTER CUPCAKES! Hurray for me. I'm pretty darned proud of myself. They turned out pretty cute, too. And delicious, although I can't take the credit for that since I just used Funfetti cake with Betty Crocker frosting.

Now, I'm no professional cupcake decorator, (have you seen that cupcake cookbook called Hello, Cupcake! I want it!!) but I was able to figure out how to make an Easter bunny for each girl. They were pretty excited to eat their bunnies.

And then I got bored of making all of the Eggs-in-Grass cupcakes so I just went crazy with the colored frosting.... I had 60 mini cupcakes to decorate, after all.

And nearly 60 cupcakes to eat as well.

The best part about making mini-cupcakes is that you don't gain a single lb. from eating them.

Really.

Interviewed!

I've been featured in an interview by the sweet and equally hilarious Alyssa of Simply Sparkles. It was a fun interview and I enjoyed answering her questions, so hop on over to her blog: Alygatrs Everywhere to read a few things you never expected you'd ever know about me...

And the best part is, as a thank you for participating in her interview, Alyssa has sent James McAvoy over to my house with a selection of cheesecake for me. WOOOO HOOOO!

Alyssa, I'm still sitting here patiently, waiting for the door bell to ring, by the way.

xoxo,

Flower Fairy Headbands: A Tutorial

My two little girls are pretty darned fanciful, and playing at being fairies is common in our house. Of course, being a fellow fairy lover, I'm always more than happy to feed their fanciful imaginations and creative play. I whipped up these little Flower Fairy headbands in only about 20 minutes, and the grand total spent on supplies (with tons more left over for other headbands and craft projects) was $6.

So here is a little tutorial to share, for those of you who have flower fairies of your own.

Step One: Gather your materials

-Headbands
(I bought mine as a set of 6 adult black elastic headbands from Target for about $3)

- Silk flower bunches
I bought two different kinds, one with large flowers
and one with bunches of small flowers
($1 a bunch from Michaels craft shop)

-Stick on rhinestones
($1 a package at Michaels crafts, or else look in the scrapbooking section)

-Hot glue gun

-thread and needle

-circle/oval of felt
I chose dark brown and cut it to be about
2 inches long and 1 inch wide

Step Two: Pick the flowers and leaves off the bunches

Step Three: Stick the rhinestones to the flowers
- looks best on the little flower bunches
The glue that is on the back of the stick-on rhinestones is pretty darned strong, once it has set about 20 minutes... but if you have a kid who is prone to chewing things and choking,
don't give them one of these headbands. Not toddler safe.

Step Four: If using a large flower, sew the bottom petals to the plastic stem
If you don't sew them together, the middle will most likely
pop off and the petals will all fall apart

Step Five: Sew the leaf to the felt, then sew the felt to the headband
Your stitches don't need to be perfect.
Just make sure it is a tight fit and that you can cover the
stitches with your flower placement.

Step Six: Attach silk flowers to felt and leaves with hot glue
for flowers with layered petals, be sure to add a dot of glue at the base where each petal meets, so that it can have extra strength.

And voila... you are done.

of course, you can't have flower fairies without garden dancing...

and of course, you can't have a photo shoot involving Annelie, without at least one picture where she makes her trademark Annelie face.


I'd love to know if you try this tutorial out and make some headbands for your own fairies.

Enjoy!
xoxo,

I Like-y Boom Booms

Camille ACEO
quirky, flirty art by Kate Lightfoot
www.ScarlettCat.etsy.com

So. Annelie has recently become obsessed with... my boom booms... or so she calls my boobs.

Why? I'm not sure. They truly aren't that spectacular (you can just take my word on that), but something about crawling inside my shirt, giving the maracas a shake and announcing for all the world to hear - despite my objection and humiliation - "I LIKE-Y BOOM BOOMS!" really floats her 2-year-old boat.

What the heck is up with kids and their boob obsessions?

Boob Man baby onsie
www.mamamonkey.etsy.com

I know I'm not the only mom out there who has become unwillingly exposed in public due to an easily excitable kid pulling down the front of her top. I have completely crossed scoop-necked t-shirts off the list of "Shirts That Are Acceptable To Wear While Having Kids" - you know, along with anything silk, or that costs over $15, or that isn't on sale, marked down by about 90%.

And of course it doesn't help in the least that Will thinks it is very, very funny.

I think the most embarrassing thing was when I discovered (this was before scoop necks were crossed off the list - Gracie was just a baby then) that I was flashing my... boom booms... to all the dads at Gracie's music class whenever I leaned over to pick her up. Will was the one who pointed it out to me (after he let me unknowingly flash him and everyone else at the park for an entire afternoon one day).

He thought it was hilarious. I was mortified and wouldn't show my face ever again, leaving Will to be the one to take her to class for the rest of the month.

Big Sexy Brains Pin
www.uglykitty.etsy.com

Seasoned moms out there, please reassure me that the boob obsessions/flashing in public will one day stop. I beg of you, please! Because while I enjoy being a girl and having boom booms, I'd really like to keep them to myself and I need a shred of hope to hold on to, that this can one day happen!

xoxo,

Here Comes Peter Cottontail....

Little Peter Cottontail has been hopping through Elegant Snobbery and dropping $4 prints all over the place - a 70% savings on many prints! That little rabbit doesn't kid around -- there are about 20 of them throughout my shop.

Looking to give a sweet gift for Easter (or just want an awesome excuse to treat yourself)??

Grab one while you can, because once they are gone, they are gone... but please try to limit yourself to ONE $4 print only, so more people have a chance to enjoy the savings.

Happy Easter!